


An Unfamiliar Feeling

by Myrkuri



Category: RWBY
Genre: the one where mercury isn't as bad as he thinks he is
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-12
Updated: 2020-06-12
Packaged: 2021-03-04 02:00:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,596
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24675745
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Myrkuri/pseuds/Myrkuri
Summary: Mercury gets instructed by Salem to kill Hazel.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 16





	An Unfamiliar Feeling

A full moon is the devils best friend.

Or, well, that's what Marcus always said. Mercury didn't really agree. Then again, Mercury wasn't a devil. He was an assassin. 

Regardless, the moon _was_ full. Its pale light shined brightly over the desert sand. Despite it being the middle of night, the blistering Vacuo heat persisted. Mercury wiped at his brow as he made his way back to where he came from, a small wooden shack on the outskirts of a local town. He made sure he wasn't followed back, but something told him people wouldn't have done that anyways.

Mercury's boots crunched the sand under his feet with every step he took. Despite being in Vacuo for the past two weeks, he still hadn't gotten used to the sound. It also went without saying how frustrating it was to clean said sand out of his prosthetics. The rampant mosquitoes pestering him as he walked didn't help matters either. Needless to say, he didn't quite enjoy his predicament. 

Perhaps there was more to it than just the environment, though.

Mercury eventually made it back to his wooden shack. He opened the door silently as he entered, making sure to close it behind him. As soon as he got in, he let out a quiet sigh and let himself lean back on the door, taking a moment to breathe. Killing the blind kid that worked for the girl with the beret he beat up a year ago was surprisingly harder than expected. He looked down to his forearm and inspected it, chuckling slightly as he rubbed the scar he got from his scrap. 

_"Can't be as cocky tonight."_ He thought, before pushing himself off the door. The floorboards of the house creaked slightly with every step as he walked through his home. 

Mercury was trusted with a far more important job than just eliminating a couple of Beacon kids before they could help stabilize Shade. He and Hazel were sent to Vacuo for two reasons. One was to obtain the Relic of Destruction, and the other was to make sure Vacuo was left helpless for the Grimm. Once both those tasks were done, Mercury's real reason for being there would have to begin.

Mercury eyed the sword Hazel had obtained from Theodore. It was leaned on its side casually by their couch. Mercury didn't really get all the excitement over what looked to be an old, albeit nice, looking sword, but he didn't get paid for his opinion. At any rate, Hazel was never the worlds best negotiator, so he managed to take the Relic and plunge Vacuo into even more chaos in one swift move. The death of Theodore affected Shade strongly, but it wasn't quite enough.

The monkey boy, beret girl and their friends were quite inspiring in how they tried to rally everyone together in an attempt to reinstate some sort of 'controlled chaos' throughout the school of Shade. Mercury was impressed, he had no idea things like that happened outside movies. It didn't matter though. In the span of a week, Mercury had killed every single one of them. The blind kid was the last one he had to dispose of, and was also his hardest fight. Hazel had offered to help, but he refused. Didn't feel right to get Hazel to do all the work.

Would also weigh a bit on Mercury's conscience to accept help from a man he was about to kill.

Salem's orders were very blunt. Go to Vacuo, get the sword, screw over everyone living there and then kill the walking brick wall. Something about him being unloyal to the cause or whatever. Mercury didn't care enough to pay much attention to why she wanted him dead, just the fact that she requested it.

Mercury grimaced as he thought back to that day. He always found it mildly concerning that she only ever spoke to him when she wanted him to kill someone. He guessed it came with the territory of working with someone who summons Grimm out of the floor. 

He shook his head, quelling the thoughts. He turned towards the narrow hallway to his right and walked through it. It was a short walk before he got to where he needed to be. In front of him was Hazel's room. Mercury put an ear to the door to make sure there was silence.

There was.

Taking a deep breath, Mercury opened the door. This time, he didn't close it. No point risking unnecessary noise. He looked in front of him to see Hazel fast asleep. He was still in his regular gear, and he was standing as he slept. Mercury felt slightly uncomfortable as he saw Hazel with his arms crossed and eyes closed leaning on the wooden wall behind him. He quickly brushed off that feeling and instead had it replaced with a feeling of dread.

It had been a while since Mercury had worked so...well, competently. He missed Emerald of course, but with her being trained to be Salem's new Fall Maiden, there wasn't much he could have said to convince Salem to let her come with him. But despite that, working with Hazel was almost _fun._

Something about working with Hazel felt right to Mercury. There was a level of respect there that he just didn't have with Tyrian or Watts. Mercury found Watts infuriatingly condescending, and Tyrian would spend every second of their scouting missions trying to figure out which leg he used to kill his dad. Honestly, Mercury kind of wished Salem asked him to kill one of those two. Instead, she wanted him to kill the one person who trusted him to get his work done without supervision. The one person who actually asked how a mission went, or if he needed to take a break when things got intense. 

He stared down the sleeping behemoth in front of him. He stared and he stared. He found he couldn't take his eyes away from how Hazel looked so peaceful in his slumber. Perhaps he didn't have to-

...no. He had to. His opinion didn't matter. The only thing that mattered was getting the job done.

He took a deep breath and raised his right leg, bringing his fist up as he did so. His dear father taught him exactly where to shoot a sleeping man to bypass their aura. Trade secret, he said. He pointed his boot directly underneath Hazel's chin, and then moved it slightly to the right. One shot from this distance would be enough to end anyone's life. Even someone as strong as Hazel.

Right before he could shoot, a strong gust of wind shook the entire shack. Mercury stumbled, quickly bringing his foot down to balance himself before he fell onto the floor. Mercury grimaced as he looked upwards, cursing the gods for such poor timing. He slowly looked back over to Hazel, his eyes widening as he realized the man was unmoved. Despite himself, Mercury smiled slightly. 

There was nobody quite like Hazel.

Before Mercury brought his foot up once more to get the job done, something on the floor caught his eye. He looked down and noticed a small package. It must have fallen from the desk in Hazel's room when the wind shook it. It was a small, open envelope. He glanced over to Hazel once more, making sure he was still asleep. Unsurprisingly, he was. 

Mercury decided to reach down and pick up the envelope. He figured Hazel wouldn't mind if he gave it a quick look, considering he wouldn't be minding a lot of stuff soon enough. He looked over the envelope, moving it from side to side as he inspected it. It was a pretty unimpressive, light envelope. Mercury was about to put it back down before he looked at the very front. There was something written on it.

 _"...for Mercury?"_ The boy thought, eyebrow quirked. He slowly put his hand into the envelope and pulled out what he grabbed onto to see what was a simple piece of paper with writing on it. On it was a roughly written 'thank you' note that seemed to be left unfinished, with a bit of sand dusting it over. Mercury's mouth slowly opened as he scanned it. He...hadn't expected this.

 _"Wait, why is he thanking me? For what? Since when do people..."_ He struggled to comprehend why Hazel would write him such a small, pointless thing as a 'thank you' letter. It was stupid, weak and useless.

But for some reason, Mercury found he couldn't tear his eyes away from those two words. 

Almost unwillingly, Mercury slowly put the note back into the envelope. He placed it back on the desk where he assumed it came from. Mercury took a deep breath as he looked towards the sleeping Hazel. 

Except instead of raising his leg, this time he turned around. He walked straight out of the room and closed the door behind him. 

Mercury didn't know what possessed him to not kill Hazel, but something inside him felt warm. It was a bit icky, and he didn't know how much he liked it considering it was already hot in the desert, but he felt like he made the right choice. He went to his room, which was conveniently on the other side of Hazel's, and lied down on his bed. He closed his eyes and put his hands behind his head before trying to doze off. Today had been an exhausting day.

But hey, he wouldn't call it a bad one.


End file.
